Flycatcher News 1

As reported, on my post of January 5th, the 25th and 26th November saw the world’s first translocation of Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher. This took place on Denis with the birds being brought over by helicopter from La Digue. A total of 23 birds were transferred (12 males and 11 females) containing a mix of adult and immature birds.

In the days following their release encouraging signs were noted in particular the singing of 3 males suggesting that they were already attempting to establish territories.

Since then the flycatchers have been the full-time occupation of Anselm Barra, Asst Research Officer on the Flycatcher project, who has been monitoring their occurrence, activities and well-being. The information below is the result of his work and covers the first 3 weeks post introduction.

19 birds have been re-sighted and seen on a regular basis.

Initially birds appeared to be setting up territories as early as the day after release, however these territories were often temporary and there was a lot of territory swapping. These initial territories were in the good quality habitat and are still occupied however the birds within them have often changed.
By 3 weeks after release many of the birds had paired up and set up stable territories and are defending their territories against the neighbours. To date 9 territories have established on Denis whilst a few of the birds have yet settle into and are still moving around the island (See Map below 1 of flycatcher territories on Denis in mid-December 2008).

No breeding activity had been observed by mid-December. However very few flycatchers on La Digue had started breeding in mid-December so a lack of breeding activity at this time on Denis is not un-expected.

I will post regular updates on this ground-breaking work so check back regularly for the latest!

The transfer of flycatchers to Denis was enabled by the approval of the La Digue Development Board and is the result of a multi-partner collaboration.

A most encouraging start - nine territories had formed by mid-December!

"Click" on Map to enlarge.

Anne-Marie’s View

As mentioned in my post of 11th January, Anne-Marie came to our rescue over the festive season and did an excellent job. She has also been kind enough to send a post for the blog regarding her time on the island:

“When an all user e-mail came through Paul Buckley in the RSPB's International Department on Fri 21 November saying that an organisation in the Seychelles was looking for someone to volunteer on a small island for a month, working on the endemic Seychelles Magpie Robin and leaving at short notice, I didn't hesitate.
"Maybe you'd like to think about it over the weekend?" Paul said, but I didn't. I'd worked in Mauritius on pink pigeons 13 years previously and had wanted to visit the Seychelles then, but didn't make it. So, just less than 2 weeks later I arrived in Mahe via London and Paris, opening the plane door to a level of heat that promised to banish the last vestiges of my second winter cold.
I was greeted at the airport by John Nevill, where I had a good update on the project and then it was a short flight to Denis. From the air it looked fabulous, luxurious woodland and aqua fringed white beaches.
On arrival I was met by Catherina who I was to cover for, and because we were due to overlap for just one day, we promptly dropped off my bags and set off on the second round of magpie robin feeding of the day. It was then that I met “Charlie” and little did I know what impact he was to have on my life in the coming weeks! Although I could say that something like love developed between myself and this magpie robin fledgling, reared by Catherina after being found in the nest with feather damage, I did sometimes feel a little tied down, what with the 5.30am wake-up calls and the nightly cockroach collections!
Luckily for me, but not for her, Catherina's stay was extended by another day and so by the time she left I was well versed in how to feed and monitor the robins. With Catherina gone, I spent my first few days settling into the pattern of feeding the robins and constantly marvelling at the wildlife, going 'My God there's a fairy tern, frigatebird, ghost crab, hawksbill turtle, rhinoceros beetle, etc.….. The only downside to report was the mosquitoes, which seemed to have a predeliction for my whiter than white legs! My short sleeved t-shirt and shorts were quickly replaced by a long-sleeved Breton shirt and some XL Denis Island shorts, borrowed from Jean-Jacques!
I am glad to say that the month I was there went slowly and I can honestly say I loved every minute of it. Of course, a lot of this was also to do with the people on the island. Up until 3.30pm each day my time was spent feeding and monitoring the robins, but after a swim, a far cry from the 15 degree water temp in Irish summertime and one of my favourite parts of the day, I would integrate into island life. Warmly welcomed by my neighbours Shane and Jean-Jacques, good friends of Catherina, I quickly got to know a larger group including Maurice and Anselm, Alex at the diving school, Ravish and Robert. From bike mending to snorkelling I was very well looked after and given the cooking skills of Seychellois men, I seriously considered transporting them back to Ireland!
It has taken me a while to register now that I am back home, and at work, but all good things come to an end. I am reassured by Catherina that all the magpie robins previously in my care are in good shape and will be keeping up-to-date on the project through the Denis Island blog, you never know there might be a fledgling named Anne-Marie some day!”

I think it’s the least we can do to name an SMR fledgling after Anne-Marie – although as we name them long before we actually know their gender we may have to change the name to “McDevitt” later on, as bearing in mind the very low global population we can not afford to create any ambiguous birds!

Our sincere thanks go out to Anne-Marie for all her hard work and goodwill in adapting to island life.

Media Coverage

Public education and awareness, bringing to the broader public attention the important work that Denis Island is supporting, is an important part of GIF’s work on the island. The overall approach is formalised in the “Outreach Programme” of the island’s Environmental Management Plan 2008-2012. Denis has recently received coverage on both the national television channel SBC and in the “Nation” newspaper.

The TV coverage has now been posted on “You Tube” and can be viewed on the following links:

Denis Island Conservation Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXCg5g2nB4Q

Denis Island Conservation Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSDfwFJQOY4

Denis Island Conservation Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ExQD5udL8s

Denis Island Conservation Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV0VNkzSPeE


Meanwhile the Nation of December 22nd carried a GIF-submitted article on the recent and ground breaking introduction of a population of the critically endangered Seychelles paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone corvina). Never before translocated this marks an historic moment in the conservation of the species.

Simply click on the image below to read the full article.

Seychelles Magpie Robin News 6.

The importance of partnership in nature conservation is often cited and the last month in the SMR project on Denis has served to underline this.

Catherina was due to take some leave from the island through December and then at the last minute the proposed replacement fell through! So I contacted Gilles-David Derand the coordinator of the Seychelles Magpie Robin Recovery Team (SMART). He put out a circular e-mail for a volunteer and just in time Anne-Marie McDevitt from RSPB Northern Ireland came to our assistance. Anne-Marie came out to Seychelles at her expense and sacrificed her festive season to work with the magpie-robins – this is dedication!! She took on the dramatic change in climate, the island mosquitoes (which seemed to like her a lot unfortunately) and the rigorous routine that the SMRs demand and all with a cheerful and enthusiastic demeanour. All the information on the SMRs in this update is therefore the result of her work. So our sincere thanks go out to Anne-Marie who is now safely ensconced back in Northern Ireland and hopefully on her way to full recovery from her tropical endeavours.

Feed – Logistical problems are one of the major constraints faced when working on small isolated islands. Now consider that Denis is a small isolated island in a small isolated archipelago and the limitations are further compounded. In December logistical complexities resulted in an imminent shortage of the specialised bird feed we need for the SMR supplementary feeding. Again the SMART network came to the rescue, showing the value of this multi-partner network, in the form of Mr Kevin Joliffe Conservation Manager on Cousine Island. Cousine Island no longer provide supplementary feed for their SMR population and thankfully had a tub left over which filled the gap until our overseas shipment arrived.

So moving onto the birds (see map below for territory status as of 23rd December 2008):

• Catherina released the captive SMR juvenile “Charlie” she had raised shortly before her departure. Interestingly Charlie flew back across the runway to Catherina’s place where he had spent the earlier phases of his captivity and was soon taking food from Anne-Marie. Though apparently a little light, Charlie appears well and is foraging successfully as well.


• T1 (see map): the fledgling here is progressing well.


• T2: the pair here had a new nest at the end of December and appeared to be incubating.


• T3: the adults and juvenile are all to be seen feeding at the bird table and look well.


• T4: this territory continues to be of concern. Having previously abandoned a breeding attempt the pair built a new nest and laid an egg, this however appeared to be infertile as it did not hatch on schedule and subsequently disappeared - presumably predated.


• T5: the chick in this territory was ringed on the 7th December. It possibly fledged on the 13th December but despite frequent observations was not seen. By the 23rd December however the female was seen to be nest building again – a very strong indication that the fledgling has been lost.

Simply "Click" on the map to enlarge!


















Other changes are also considerable with affairs of the SMR heart proving fickle (“a la kreol”) once more!

• On October 7th I reported (in Bird Bulletin 7) that: i).the female (ringed Orange/Blue) had left her area adjacent to T3 and moved south to pair up with the male in area F (Blue/Red); ii). Whilst the young female (Yellow/Shocking Pink) that had been co-habiting with the pair in area C had moved on. I was hopeful that these moves would see the formation of 9 SMR pairs the optimum possible number for that island at that stage.
  Well things didn’t go so well in Area F with Orange/Blue not seen, and assumed floating once more, in that area since late November. This departure caused the male there (Blue/Red) to roam as well presumably looking for the errant female and he was seen in various locations around the island.


• The situation has continued to evolve – Orange/Blue has still to be seen since November and Blue/Red has now moved into area C forming a pair bond with the female Black/black and ousting her previous suitor (Sky Blue/New Green) who is now to be seen floating on the periphery of the area.


• Meanwhile Yellow/Shocking Pink has indeed re-surfaced in area A with the two males there and it is to be hoped that she will in due course pair with one of them.
  

So as you can see there is a lot going on and despite some setbacks the population on Denis is slowly increasing with currently 19 adults, 2 juveniles and a fledgling.

Keep checking back for news on this new population of the endangered Seychelles magpie robin.

Invertebrates (1): The Rhinocerous Beetle (Oryctes monoceros)

Denis Island plays host to some very interesting species of terrestrial invertebrate and insect. During the months of November and December I encountered numerous dead adult specimens of the African rhinocerous beetle (Oryctes monoceros) – so called because of the distinctive horn borne by the male of the species.

Denis was planted from the 1850s onwards as a coconut plantation and it is likely during this time that the beetle which is a pest of coconut trees became established on the island.
Although not as devastating to plantation production as the species that occurs in the Pacific islands, damage by O. Monoceros can be quite severe. Productivity of mature palms can be reduced by adults feeding on the leaf growth points resulting in the characteristic slicing off of leaves. The real damage however is to young palms which can be killed or seriously stunted by continuous attacks. The trunks of dead trees provide the ideal breeding ground for larvae which are very large (See photos in sidebar). On Denis dead logs are often used to demarcate pathways and 10-20 larvae can frequently be found in trunk lengths of only a few feet that exhibit the right degree of decay.

The coconut industry in Seychelles was of significant economic importance in the past and as such the beetle received a lot of attention in terms of measures to control it including attempts in 1949 and 1951 to establish biocontrol in Seychelles through the introduction of the parasitic wasp Scolia ruficornis fabricius. The beetle’s abundance is also related to the abundance of other palm disease agents such as melitomma which influence the amount of dead coconut timber available for rhinoceros beetle larvae. As a consequence one of the best measures to control the beetle is good plantation husbandry.

C. J. Piggot, visiting Denis in 1960 noted:

“Rhinoceros beetle damage is severe but the insect is slowly being brought under control by continued collecting of adults and larvae. It is difficult to discover the main breeding places. There are few fallen palms and no accumulation of decaying organic matter… seems likely they live in manure holes that have been insufficiently covered with sand or soil.”

The economic significance of coconut to Seychelles and the area under plantations today is of course greatly reduced. On Denis despite the recent re-commencement of small scale copra and oil production the coconut coverage is also being reduced as part of the ongoing development of broadleaved woodland habitat for the island’s various conservation programmes such as the introduction of rare endemics like the Seychelles magpie robin and flycatcher. As such I, for one, view the beetle today as an ally in the struggle against the man-made monoculture of coconuts that provides little or no habitat to native species and prevents the re-establishment of native vegetation through the dense undercover generated by sprouting nuts.

Denis Island’s Environment Programmes Enable World Conservation First.

The Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone corvina) is a critically endangered species (IUCN Red List criteria) with the only breeding population restricted to the island of La Digue. La Digue is the 3rd most populated island in the Seychelles archipelago and the related development pressures mean that the long term future of the species habitat there is not secure. Also a species that is restricted to one very small island is inherently vulnerable to stochastic events – such as storms, disease, forest fires etc… and as such it is always important to establish additional populations in order to secure the future of the species.

On the mornings of 25th and 26th of November a total of 23 flycatchers were transferred from La Digue to Denis Island in two helicopter flights. The birds were then transported in their transfer boxes, by buggy, to the largest area of suitable broadleaved woodland habitat on the island. The arrival of a large number of migratory birds of prey (see post of 29th November 2008) in the preceding days was a cause for concern and so it was decided to release the birds at a point 150 metres or so further south from the runway into the forest to lessen the immediate risk of predation.

Each bird was released in turn from its transfer box. Its condition checked by a veterinary specialist and provided with a special re-hydration fluid before release. It was very encouraging to see the good condition exhibited by all the birds on their release.

The birds soon dispersed and by 13:00 hrs on the first day of releases one bird had been seen to fly north across the runway. Over the next two days males were heard to be singing at three separate locations - another very encouraging sign that indicated that birds had identified suitable habitat and were already trying to attract a mate and establish a territory.

This ground breaking introduction, which if successful will represent a turning point for the species, comes as the result of years of work by various partners (see further details at the end of this post):
Denis Island Pty Ltd has of course enabled the transfer by undertaking the rehabilitation of the island’s ecosystem over the last 10 years including the eradication of rats and cats and allowing the conversion of large areas of woodland to suitable habitat types.
Rachel Bristol, the Project Officer, has worked tirelessly over the last two years. On La Digue she has been monitoring the Flycatcher population and working with the local community to advance awareness and to build support for the transfer. On Denis she has been overseeing an 18 month vegetation project to convert approximately 20 hectares of coconut plantation into broadleaved woodland and thereby provide additional habitat in the future for the introduce population to expand into.
The La Digue Development Board (LDDB) – following detailed negotiations and a site visit to Denis to see the available habitat and receive a detailed presentation on the proposed transfer - approved the transfer and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Denis Island overseeing its terms and conditions.

Following the releases work rapidly switched to the monitoring of birds. Over the next year the birds will be monitored intensively by Anselm Barra and I hope to be able to provide updates on the birds’ progress in the same way that I post periodically on the Seychelles magpie robin population.

This first transfer of the Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher has been a collaborative effort. Donor funding has been received from the UK Darwin Initiative. The overall project leader is Dr Jim Groombridge. Project partners include: Nature Seychelles, the Seychelles Department of Environment, the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Environment, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Wildlife Vets International, RARE UK and the University of Kent.

A New Year

Sorry for the lack of posts in recent weeks, work commitments and the taking of some annual leave have kept me otherwise occupied. Work and developments have continued apace on Denis, however, with assistance coming from various new partners on our existing projects. I am now back at work and hope to report to you on as much of this in the coming weeks.

2008 was an extraordinary year for the environmental management and conservation on Denis with real breakthroughs of global significance realised thanks to the investment and commitment of Denis Island Development (Pty) Ltd.

Let’s hope that 2009 brings further quantifiable progress and sees the island’s ecosystem advance further on its path of recovery and rehabilitation.

Please do keep checking back on this site for further updates and also feel free to leave comments or seek clarification on issues through the comments tool at the foot of each posting.

Best wishes for 2009,

John Nevill
General Manager
Green Islands Foundation.